European governments are fully within their legal rights to boycott products made by Jews in the West Bank, a British legal expert has concluded.

The 60-page opinion by James Crawford, a professor of international law at Cambridge University in Britain, has been shown to senior officials of EU member states in the past few months, according to the U.K. Independent, which also saw the opinion.

“(T)here do not appear to be any European Commission laws which could be breached by a member state taking the decision to ban the import of settlement produce on public policy grounds,” Crawford reportedly states in his opinion.

The opinion comes as some European Union states are considering measures ranging from relabeling West Bank goods to reflect that they were made in settlements to an outright ban on their import.

The opinion will be published this week by the Trades Union Congress, according to the Independent. The Congress has been working to approve a ban on the purchase of goods produced in the settlements, though it does not support a boycott of Israel as a whole

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT